Many shows lay claim to be the first freeform radio program; the earliest is "Nightsounds" on KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California, D.J.'d by John Leonard. Probably the best-remembered in the Midwest is Beaker Street, which ran for almost 10 years on KAAY "The Mighty 1090" in Little Rock, Arkansas, beginning in 1966, making it also probably the best-known such show on an AM station; its signal reached from Canada to Mexico and Cuba, blanketing the Midwest and Midsouth of the U.S. WFMU is currently the longest-running freeform radio station in the United States. WNEW-FM 102.7 in NYC was the first commercial station in the US to introduce a freeform format. It stayed that way under the ownership of Metromedia Broadcasting till it was sold and the new owners were not interested. WNEW-FM was a leader in introducing new music and making household names of a good deal of the bands we know from the 1960s and '70s. Jim Ladd of KLOS in Los Angeles, California was one of the most notable freeform DJs. Tom Petty wrote a song about Jim Ladd called "The Last DJ". The only time Jim Ladd didn't have complete control over what music is being played is when he turned control over to his faithful listeners commonly referred to as "The Tribe".[1]
On October 26, 2011, Ladd was among various staffers let go from KLOS following the acquisition of station owner Citadel Broadcasting by Cumulus Media. As of 2012 Ladd is hosting a daily freeform show on Sirius XM'sDeep Tracks.

Commercial freeform radio stations were common in the late 1960s and early '70s, particularly on the FM band, but are rare today. An exceptional case was Indie 103.1FM of Santa Monica and Newport Beach, California. Indie 103.1 broadcast radio programs in which famous musicians from the world of popular music host radio programs and choose the playlist. Indie 103.1 recently left the FM airwaves, but currently continues on the internet.

Another commercial freeform radio station is KHUM, "radio without the rules," at 104.3 and 104.7 FM in Ferndale, California. KHUM has transmitted since 1996 and is the most popular station in Humboldt County, California.

Internet radio and, to a lesser extent, college radio are sanctuaries of the freeform format (although even the latter has lost much of its independence as stations begin modeling corporate stations in their presentation). On Sirius XMsatellite radio, the weekly Bob Dylan-hosted Theme Time Radio Hour featured a freeform format, as do several specialty programs on The Loft. Many terrestrial freeform stations are small and lack corporate backing, and therefore have relatively weak radio transmitters (especially around metropolitan areas where corporate radio signals dominate, but at the same time have enough of a population density to cover enough people to support such a station), a problem that has caused numerous broadcasters to transition to Internet radio, pirate radio or both.

The full service format can be seen as a variant of the freeform format, though since most full-service stations are located in rural areas, country music, adult standards, classic hits (oldies or classic rock), and occasionally adult contemporary music tend to form the bulk of the music on a full-service station, and the vast majority of full-service stations focus primarily on mainstream, popular music (whereas freeform stations often put the emphasis on less widely known or more exotic selections).

Eclectic radio describes radio programming encompassing diverse music genres. Unlike freeform radio, the eclectic radio format involves prescribed playlists. While freeform radio stands in contrast to commercial radio formats, a number of commercial radio stations offer programs showcasing an eclectic variety of music.